fictionaltvstationsfandomcom-20200216-history
WNLND
WNLND is the New Line Network owned-and-operated station licensed to and serving Detroit, Michigan. The station broadcasts on channel 6 and is owned by New Line Stations, a company. WNLND maintains studio facilities located at 15666 Noecker Way near Reeck Road (south of Goddard Road and east of Allen Road) in Southgate, and it's transmitter on Lincoln Drive between Interstate 696 (Reuther Freeway) and Greenfield Road in Southfield. WNLND, along with sister stations WNLCO in Cleveland and WNLMW in Milwaukee, does not produce an 11 PM Eastern newscast, instead simulcasting sister station WCNLN Chicago's 10 PM Central (11 PM Eastern) newscast immediately following WNLND's own 10 PM Eastern newscast. History Early successes and 80's decline WNLND signed on at 2:50 PM on February 26, 1968, as the third of the then-newly-formed New Line Network's seven charter O&Os, after WNLNY New York and WCNLN Chicago. WNLND initially leased studio space in the First National Building in downtown Detroit. Originally, in addition to it's New Line programming, WNLND also produced a significant amount of local programming that ranged from music and variety to daytime talk, sports, agriculture, current affairs and documentaries. WNLND instantly became profitable for the then-independent New Line company as it was the only VHF station network founder Robert Shaye was able to sign on, the other six charter O&Os were all on the UHF band. In 1970, WNLND also became the first station in Michigan to launch a 90-minute early evening newscast, from 5 to 6:30 PM. WNLND originally branded as WNLND, Channel 6, and in 1975 it began branding as Detroit's TV6. On September 1, 1975, WNLND opened it's current studio building on what was then Carbidex Road (the then-address was 15666 Carbidex Road) and began using Al Ham's Move Closer to Your World as it's news theme. However, the unexpected extreme popularity of A Nightmare on Elm Street, released in 1984 by the Cinema division of the New Line company, resulted in New Line reallocating most of their funding from the Stations division into the Cinema division to jump start the resulting franchise. This funding crunch, in 1985, decimated all locally produced programs by WNLND and fellow New Line O&Os except for most news, even though WNLND was among the division's most successful stations. The 90-minute early evening newscast, by then known as TV6 Twilight Newscap, remained as well as late and weekend news programs, but the music (including Detroit Video Sounds, WNLND's answer to MTV), variety, and morning news programs were all canceled. In 1990, in order to fund the purchasing of a 52% stake in the television production company RHI Entertainment (now Sonar Entertainment), New Line closed down WNLND's news department, resulting in protests from Metro Detroit residents. A large rally of about 5,000+ people marched on Carbidex Road in protest, at one point shutting down the southbound lanes of adjacent Interstate 75. Only three reporters remained at WNLND, who produced stories for the early evening newscast on Chicago sister station WCNLN. First came'' Early Evening at 5:30 PM, which was followed by ''New Line Evening News, an out-of-market and Eastern Time Zone-specific renaming of Central Time-based WCNLN's newscast, Live at 5 ''(the ''New Line Evening News ''name was quickly applied to this newscast within the Chicago market as well). The Detroit Project With an editorial and tech staff of about 32, New Line reinstated local news in pilot project form. New operating methods and new technologies were introduced. This meant videojournalists (cross-skilling) multi-skilling, and the use of non-linear editing technology (AVID newscutters and air-play for news item playback). The Detroit Committee was also formed. This group made up of managers and union reps oversaw the progress of the "project" and dealt with issues that arose on an almost weekly basis. The new methods of the operation paved way for some of the new language in the collective agreements reached when New Line was acquired by the in 1994 before being acquired by Warner Bros. in 1996. Detroit was not only in the spotlight in New Line, but also eventually Turner Broadcasting and then Warner Bros., and was also of interest to many other broadcasters and union leaders across the United States. Two local news programs were produced when WNLND presented the half-hour ''Detroit at 5:30, anchored by Velma French, at 5:30 p.m. and a new 90-minute prime-time newscast, split into Detroit at 10 p.m. and Detroit at 11 p.m. (WNLND would continue to show the Chicago-based New Line Evening News at 6 p.m.). The Move Closer to Your World theme was also revived, but it was removed again in 1998 after New Line started requiring all of the network's O&Os to use the same music themes. In 1992, WNLND's longtime street, Carbidex Road, was renamed Noecker Way in honor of the station's first general manager, Al Noecker. In the mid-1990s, Turner Broadcasting and later Warner Bros. made significant investments into the New Line Network and it's O&Os. 1995 Riots WNLND's relaunched news department would quickly have one of it's first major tests when Metro Detroit saw one of the bloodiest days in it's history when the 1995 Riots began. The unrest began in Sterling Heights on July 29, 1995, after a trial jury acquitted five officers of the Sterling Heights Police Department of the use of excessive force in the videotaped arrests and beatings of striking Detroit Newspapers workers earlier that month. It then spread throughout the entire tri-county Metro Detroit as thousands of people rioted over a six-day period following the announcement of the verdict. Widespread looting, assault, arson, and killings occurred during the riots, and estimates of property damage were over $1 billion. Order was only restored in after members of the Michigan Army National Guard, the 7th Infantry Division, and the 1st Marine Division were called in to stop the rioting when local police could not control the situation. In total, 55 people were killed during the riots, more than 2,000 people were injured, and more than 11,000 were arrested. The CEO of Detroit Newspapers, who had already announced his resignation by the time of the riots, took much of the institutional blame. Sale of studio On September 8, 2014, it was announced that due to a financial crisis at New Line, Time Warner would be selling its Noecker Way studio complex to a Toledo, Ohio-based developer for $1,425,000. New Line will continue its operations at the complex, leasing 13,000 square feet of the 32,000 square-foot complex from the developer on a ten-year lease. While employees would relocate out of areas not leased by Time Warner, the transition is not expected to be noticed by viewers and listeners. On March 8, 2017, at around 1:50 p.m., heavy winds sent two large trees through the windows of the studio complex and caused significant damage. All of the station's employees were evacuated and the building had it's power temporarily cut and was shut down until tree-clearing crews were called in to remove the trees. WNLND ran an automated feed of New Line programming for an hour and a half (consisting of OMG! Fashion and the first half-hour of an encore repeat of Denver Fire), before going dark for about 80 minutes; a satellite relay with WCNLN was then established late that afternoon during the final ten minutes of a Supreme Court ''encore repeat, and their newscasts were aired in place of WNLND's own evening newscasts (with the WCNLN anchors acknowledging the expanded audience in the introduction and the Detroit area added to the weather maps to compensate) until New Line Stations master control operators were able to reestablish a link from the New Line Center to Noecker Way in order to allow the resuming of broadcasting from the studio after most damage was repaired at 2:15 a.m. early the following day. Website history *wnlnd.newline.com (1996-2000) *newline6detroit.com (2000-2006) *news.newlinenetwork.com/detroit (2006-present) Sign-off history *''WNLND-TV, New Line, Detroit 6 now concludes another day of programming. WNLND-TV, New Line, Detroit 6 is owned-and-operated by New Line Network, and transmits on channel 6 with an effective radiated power of 325,000 watts. Studio and main administrative facilities are located at 15666 Carbidex Road, adjacent to I-75, east of Allen Road, between Goddard and Northline Roads, in Southgate, Michigan. Zip code is 48195. Transmitting facilities are located at the northwest corner of Greenfield Road and West Lincoln Avenue, between West 10 and West 11 Mile Roads, in Southfield, Michigan. We hope you leave your dial on Detroit 6 for another day of informative and entertaining programming. We now give you a very pleasant good night. (1989-1992) Digital television Digital channels Analog-to-digital conversion WNLND shut down its analog signal at 11:58 a.m. on June 12, 2009, the official date in which full-power television stations in the United States transitioned from analog to digital broadcasts under federal mandate, and flash-cut its digital signal into operation on VHF channel 6 three minutes later at 12:01 p.m., relocating from its pre-transition UHF channel 60, which was among the high band UHF channels (52-69) that were removed from broadcasting use as a result of the transition. Like all stations broadcasting on channel 6 prior to the digital switchover, WNLND's audio signal could be heard on 87.75 MHz on the FM band in Metro Detroit and as far away as Flint, Lapeer, and Adrian in Michigan, as well as Toledo, Ohio and even London, Ontario. Quite unusually, WNLND has never operated any repeaters in or near the state of Michigan, as a transmitter in Alpena rebroadcasts WCNLN instead. Transmitters previously operated in Lansing, Marquette and Duluth, Minnesota (the latter transmitter served Gogebic County in the state's extreme western Upper Peninsula) also instead rebroadcast either WCNLN (in the case of Lansing and Marquette) or KNLNM (in the case of Duluth, though that transmitter too rebroadcast WCNLN prior to KNLNM's 1986 purchase by New Line Stations), though they were each shut down once Lansing, Marquette and Duluth got their own affiliates in 1990, 1992 and 1999, respectively. However, WNLND's analog signal was viewable in portions of the Lansing market during that period and was carried on some cable systems in that market. Reception issues In an analog world, operations on VHF channels (those between 1 and 13) could operate at power levels significantly lower than UHF stations (saving electricity costs), and still cover greater areas. The All-Channel Receiver Act of 1961, placed into effect four years before WNLND signed on guaranteed that all new TV's must be designed to receive UHF channels. This turned out to be somewhat a benefit for New Line, which was forced to sign on UHF O&Os in other markets when it signed on in 1968. For digital transmissions VHF channels are very noisy in particular Low-VHF (channels 1-6). It is difficult to receive the signals without the standardized 30' outdoor antenna. Only a small number of full power stations in the USA are using Low-VHF channels since the mandatory digital conversion in 2009, and major network affiliates are mostly in large sparsely populated direct marketing areas where outdoor antennas are common. In contrast to the USA, the United Kingdom completely abandoned VHF channels for television when they went all digital. WNLND had been broadcasting digital signals on channel UHF 60 from January 2006-June 2009, but that channel was recovered by the FCC for resale in March 2008. WNLND went back to channel 6, where they had been broadcasting analog signals since 1968. The WNLND signal was difficult to receive with an indoor antenna, even within the suburban city of Southfield, where WNLND's transmitter is located, and the neighboring city of Oak Park, whose boundary runs just east of the transmitter site. The FCC granted the station a temporary power increase to 30 kilowatts. Because of potential interference with other stations and with FM radio, there was doubt as to whether this increase could be granted. Some viewers did notice an improvement in their signal; however, WNLND continued to receive complaints regarding the viewability of its digital signal. The problems have continued to this day. The FCC advises that a single antenna position will likely not pull both low- and high-band VHF signals (unlike the analog era). Cable coverage In addition to carriage across Southeast Michigan, WNLND is carried on most cable providers in Southwestern Ontario and Northwestern Ohio. Coverage on cable systems outside the Detroit/Windsor market may be subject to syndication exclusivity rules and network blackouts in the United States and simsubbing in Canada. Until April 2011, Comcast subscribers in Holly, which is located within the Detroit market in northwestern Oakland County were unable to see much of WNLND's programming, as it was often blacked out at the request of Flint's WNEM-TV; the blackout was due to the Comcast system being tied to the Flint headend, instead of one in Oakland County or elsewhere in Detroit. That month, following complaints from Detroit stations and area viewers of being blacked out or unavailable in an area that they were supposed to serve, Comcast discontinued blackouts of the Detroit stations it already carried, added additional stations from that market (including WNLND's then-lone subchannel, Cartoon Network's Cartoon Theatre) and dropped many Flint/Tri-Cities area stations from that system, except two that were retained as they were considered to have significant viewership in the Holly area. Gallery WNLND Logo 1968.png|1968-70 logo WNLND Logo 1970.png|1970-75 logo WNLND Logo 1975.png|1975-79 logo WNLND Logo 1979.png|1979-85 logo WNLND Logo 1985.png|Logo from 1985-1987 WNLND1987id.jpg|WNLND ID used between 1987-1989 promoting the new logo rolled out to the entire New Line company in 1987 WNLND ID 1989.jpg|1989-92 station identification. WNLND ID 1994.jpg|WNLND ID from 1994-1997 from the Turner Broadcasting era of the "New Line. Personalized." campaign. Recorded on July 20, 1994, at the end of the 10 PM newscast, Detroit at 10, and before a repeat of Apples and Cornfields, remaining on the screen longer due to the inability to run commercials (severe weather was striking Metro Detroit that evening, causing issues with WNLND's automation). WNLND1997id.jpg|WNLND ID from 1997-2001 from the Time Warner era of the "New Line. Personalized." campaign and also to roll out a new logo debuted in 1997. Recorded on October 9, 1998, at the end of Unsuccessful Pilots and before a repeat of Frank Burke, U.S.A.F. WNLND Meijer Promo 1998.jpg|WNLND/Meijer promo from October 9, 1998, recorded in a commercial break during The Red Green Show listing Meijer's stores in the Detroit television market at the time. Note the accidental use of the 1987-97 logo minus the "6". NLN Bug 2002.jpg|Screencap from December 31, 2002 with New Line's screen bug of the period. WNLND 10 PM News Preview 2004.jpg|10 PM newscast preview recorded on June 15, 2004. WNLND Intro 2016.jpg|Current graphics, in use since April 2014. All New Line O&O newscasts show the current date over a scene of the station's market area between the opening and the anchor introduction. The top and bottom bars are different colors depending on the daypart, orange (shown here) is used for the noon and early evening newscasts. WNLND Please Stand By.jpg|This "red screen" was displayed for about 80 minutes on the afternoon of March 8, 2017, after heavy winds sent two trees crashing into the WNLND studios, preventing the station from operating normally until early the following morning. Nearly half a million people were unable to see this screen, however, as they were without power at that time resulting from the winds, unless they had generators. WNLND Graphics 2017.jpg|Screencap of WNLND's 6 PM newscast taken on May 15, 2017. News operation WNLND presently broadcasts 26 hours of locally produced newscasts each week (5 hours on weekdays and an hour on Sundays, the only Saturday newscasts produced at WNLND being short updates between the two halves of the New Line At The Movies double feature). On October 2, 2000, evening news programming on WNLND and other New Line Network O&Os were reduced to a half-hour each early evening. On this same date, WNLND's newscasts were now referred to under the New Line News 6 banner, in line with New Line Stations' new standardization plan. With the introduction of New Line Live (which began at WNLND before it went national), New Line's new hybrid hour-long early evening newscast at 5 p.m. made its debut, preceding the newly-renamed New Line News 6 at 6. National news segments originated from the studios of Los Angeles sister station KNLNL and were anchored by Daryl Bell, with the Detroit segment broadcast from the WNLND studios presented by Faye Byrd. Velma French would move to Chicago to anchor the Chicago segment there; she would later move to New York to co-anchor with Colin Barrett on New Line Network's morning newscast, New Line Sunrise. As a result of the early evening news change, New Line's local news operations faced some layoffs – especially WNLND, which terminated ten of its 29 news staffers. Prior to the 2006 format change, New Line Live was last locally anchored by Megan Mitchell with Doyle Watson from a state-of-the-art news set inside the WNLND newsroom. On January 9, 2006, under New Line's ambitious O&O programming expansion initiative (which indirectly resulted in the Cinema division's cessation to exist as a separate entity and folding into Warner Bros.), New Line Live was cut to a half-hour at 5 PM. On November 30, 2006, New Line announced plans to discontinue New Line Live in February 2007, in favor of 90-minute long early evening local newscasts on its stations. While sister stations WBNLN Boston decided to name its new early evening newscast New England Twilight and KNLNL Los Angeles kept the New Line Live title, WNLND retained the New Line News 6 at Six brand rather than returning to its original New Line News 6 Twilight Newscap title. Megan Mitchell would continue as lead anchor, with Darnell Jordan on sports and Viola Hubbard reporting on weather and traffic. In September 2009, most New Line stations began to carry a 120-minute block of local news from 5 to 7 p.m. Eastern Time each weeknight; however, WNLND opted to keep its 90-minute newscast, New Line News 6 at 5/''5:30''/''6'' (depending on time) from 5 to 6:30 p.m. In addition to the main prime-time 10 p.m. newscast, New Line News 6 at 10, WNLND introduced a half-hour 11 p.m. newscast, New Line News 6 Late Night, immediately following the 10 p.m. newscast on October 26, 2009. On July 3, 2012, Mitchell announced that she would take a leave of absence for a year, as she was adopting a baby girl. On September 2, 2013, WNLND finally followed the lead of it's sister stations by expanding its early evening newscast as well to 120 minutes from 5 to 7 p.m., while it discontinued its 11 p.m. newscast in turn (due to competition from CBS owned-and-operated station WZZD, ABC affiliate WDET, NBC affilate WGID, then UPN affiliate WJJW and Fox owned-and-operated station WLTY); this differed from most New Line O&Os in other markets where stations carry both a 120-minute early and 90-minute late evening newscast; in lieu of its own 11 p.m. newscast, WNLND simulcasts the 10 p.m. Central newscast from WCNLN instead following WNLND's own hour-long 10 p.m. Eastern newscast (the WCNLN simulcasts at 10 p.m. Central are also done at sisters WNLCO Cleveland and WNLMW Milwaukee, who also discontinued their 11 p.m. Eastern newscasts on the same date). Lola Hines, who previously worked the breaking news desk on New Line News Network, became anchor of the expanded newscast; she replaced Margaret Nichols (who became anchor during Mitchell's maternity leave) as anchor. News theme history *September 1, 1975-1990, 1992-October 31, 1998: Move Closer To Your World (Mayoham Music) *November 1, 1998-present: Magnum (V.1, V.2, V.3) (615 Music) Programming Schedules Current Programming Schedule Programming Schedule from July 17-23, 1994 Programming Schedule from October 5-11, 1998 Programming Schedule from December 5-11, 2004 Programming Schedule from May 8-14, 2005 Category:New Line Network Category:New Line Stations Category:Detroit Category:Michigan Category:Channel 6 Category:Television channels and stations established in 1968 Category:New Line Network affiliates Category:Superstations in the United States Category:Superstations